Now, Then And Forever
by Ariadne1
Summary: Post Hogwarts, a D/G fic. Featuring BadGirl!Ginny and GoodieTwoShoes!Draco. (Kind of...) Draco has orders to find Ginny. But she's not what he expected to find. On the contrary, she is very different. And he likes different...
1. Default Chapter

Now, Then And Forever 

Now, Then And Forever 

**A/N:** Argh! Evil attack of the D/G plotbunnies! They keep annoying me! I know I really shouldn't be starting new fics at the moment but... Hey, I just gotta write the ideas of they'll keep haunting me. shivers Featuring BadGirl!Ginny and GoodieTwoShoes!Draco. (Kind of, or as good as _The_ Draco Malfoy can get at least!)

**Disclaimer:** The HP characters all belong to J. K. Rowling. Not me. Sad fact, but it's true. Didn't you know?

~*~*~*~*~

"But I-"

"Mr. Malfoy, we believe that you would be the best man for this job. Every other Auror has their jobs to do and orders to follow relating the case. They follow their orders; I will not give you special treatment. You yourself know, too, about the... strained relationship between Miss Weasley and the rest of her family. It's more likely that she'll give it to you than to one of them," The stern-faced Auror looked down at Draco Malfoy.

"She bloody _hated_ me at Hogwarts!" Draco burst out desperately.

"It's an order, Mr. Malfoy. No more buts. This is a direct order from your superior, so _go_!" Draco sighed resignedly and nodded. Stephan Collins relaxed and smiled. "Good. You will go as soon as possible. Take as long as you need to, but whatever else, _bring back the wand_!"

~*~*~*~*~

Draco looked down at the piece of paper in his had. "Number twelve," he muttered. "Number twelve, twelve, twelve." He simply couldn't find the house Ginny Weasley lived in. Looking down again at the paper, he walked straight into a lamppost. "Damn!" It was idiotic how _he_ had to be the one to go on a bloody wild-goose-chase. Potter should have gone, or Granger. Or bloody Weasley. "You're the best man for this job," he mimicked his Superior.

Only a select few knew Ginny Weasley moved to a Muggle place in England, living solely as a Muggle, with no magic at all. How she survived, he didn't know. There was a huge mystery about her disappearance. All that the public was told about her was that after the big confrontation with Voldemort and Harry Potter in The Burrow, she left. Just went like that. Packed and Apparated away. No one except those who were there knew the reason she had left. The Weasleys didn't speak of her and when asked replied so coldly whoever had dared question them backed off immediately. It had been five years now and suddenly he had to find her.

Or rather, find her wand. The ministry had found out that there were some Dark Arts workers looking for wands that had been in the presence of You-Know-Who during his second downfall. Apparently they thought that they could use the wand to resurrect him, as it had been in the presence of his strength and therefore was powerful enough to make him rise again. It didn't matter which wand, as long as it had been there. All the other wands had been locked up in an extremely powerful safe and only Dumbledore knew where it was. Much to annoyance of their owners, although they were supplied with temporary wands.

Draco thought it was a load of rubbish. As if that could happen. He had been raised in a Dark Arts family and was sceptical that anything like that was even remotely possible. But orders were orders. 

It suddenly started to drizzle. Then rain rather heavily. Soon it was pouring. "Argh!" he shouted, "Where's bloody number twelve?!" Later he supposed that someone up _there_ must have been looking out for him, as (in Draco's words) 'In a stroke of bloody good luck!' a door some houses away swung open and a red-headed woman looked out.

***

"Draco Malfoy!" she laughed hysterically. "_Draco_ Malfoy!"

"Oh gee, you know my name! Oh wow! You know my name!" Draco said in a false high falsetto voice before scowling. "It's dark, pouring and I'm bloody tired. You gonna ask me in or should I just come in anyway?" Though he was acting annoyed, he was actually consumed with amazement and shock. 

He had almost gasped aloud when he got a closer look at the 'new' Ginny Weasley. She – for starters – was _smoking_. Her! And her clothing was a shocker too. She was wearing a very, _very_ tight Muggle 'Hard Rock Café' T-shirt and – oh my god, was it _leather_? – leather pants, as well as a snakeskin belt. Had he been a girl he would have shrieked "Oh my _gawd_!" but he wasn't. He was a guy and Ginny Weasley was very, very hot.

"Come in," she coughed and stood aside. "You're wet." she commented, eyeing his sodden appearance.

"Thanks for telling me. I hadn't noticed."

She brushed past his sarcasm and merely replied with a casual, "S'okay. So. Why the hell are you at my house and how can I help you?"

"You have a highly original way of speaking."

"Thank you. Originality is good. Being normal is boring."

"And that's why you dress like that." He eyed her clothing again.

"How I dress is none of your business. But you find this outfit shocking? Look." She pulled her flaming red hair back and showed him the three pairs of earrings she had. All at the bottom, not the top. When he remarked on that she told him, "The top hurts. My friend told me. But you're avoiding the subject. What do you want?"

"Your wand," he said simply.

Ginny studied his face while he looked back nonchalantly. "Fine." She got up and went to the drawer close to them. She pulled out a box and fiddled with it until the top popped open. She drew out her wand and held it out, "Here."

Draco was shocked. He hadn't thought it would have been so easy. And he was also shocked by the fact that he didn't want to go. Ginny was original. She was unique and he liked her 'Don't-Give-A-Damn' attitude. Ginny was far from anything like all the girls he knew and had met. If he left who knew when he would ever get to see her again? But he reached out and pocketed the wand. He walked slowly to the door, feeling more and more unwilling to leave each second.

"Wait," she called out, "It's really pouring out there. You would get even more soaked then you are now. You can stay overnight if you want." He looked quizzically at her, wondering where this was going. "There's a guest bedroom. It's clean and all. It hardly ever gets used." 

"Thanks," he walked back to the living room. "I'd like that."

Ginny smiled, "Yeah. Me too."

He could have Apparated. He would have gotten off relatively dry and he was already wet, so why did it matter? Ginny could have been away from magic so long that she had forgotten about Apparating, but Draco didn't think that was true. So he was staying over at her house. Who gave a damn?

~*~*~*~*~

A/N: Please review!


	2. In The Dark Of The Night

Now, Then And Forever

Now, Then And Forever

** **

**A/N:** Review! You know the drill.

**Disclaimer:** The Harry Potter characters are J. K. Rowling's. I'm just a crazed Potter maniac who wants to pass her time. The chapter title comes from Anastasia. The song Rasputin sings. For some weird reason, I rather like it.

Chapter 2 – In The Dark Of The Night 

Draco couldn't sleep. It wasn't the rather lumpy bed, or even the fact that the 'New Ginny Weasley' was sleeping in the room next to him. It wasn't the shock of seeing the 'New Ginny' nor the fact that he'd started to have feelings that he really shouldn't be feeling. It was force of habit. He had always been a very light sleeper. The slightest creak could wake him. Maybe it came from his childhood, lying awake at night while his father had meetings with his 'friends'. He wouldn't know. Of course he had tried using potions and spells. But he found that though he did manage to sleep, he couldn't get up the next morning. Then he found out about Muggle coffee. Now he had a routine where he sat up at night, drinking coffee. It did not help him sleep, rather it kept him up, but was better than wondering around the house half-asleep and half-awake. He hoped Ginny had some coffee around.

He found a small container and a mug. He muttered a spell and the water started to boil. He had just settled comfortably down on the chair in the kitchen when he heard soft footsteps. He turned around to find Ginny standing there. In her oversized T-shirt with a bear on it and her red hair cascading down her back - not partly pulled up as it had been before - he could almost see the original Ginny showing through. The timid, shy, shadow of a person that mooned over Potter.

"Hey. What are you doing up?"

He motioned for her to sit down. "Couldn't sleep. Never can sleep, actually. Did I wake you up?"

"Nope," she sat down on the chair next to him. Her posture and the way she sat immediately removed the previous image of her he had gained. She had swung the chair the other way round, it's back facing the table and when she sat down, had placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on the hands. "I couldn't go to sleep. So I finished my book and listened to a couple of songs. Then I heard you come down and decided to join you. You don't mind, do you?"

"Why should I mind?"

"It's just that..." Ginny suddenly laughed - a very pretty laugh, Draco thought absentmindedly. "If someone had told me five years ago that I would be sitting here with you of all people, I would have laughed at them. And if someone had told me that Draco Malfoy could ever be relatively nice to me – a Weasley – I would have sent them straight to St. Mungo's. But then here we are."

"Yeah. Here we are."

Ginny suddenly jumped up from her seat and pulled on Draco's arm. "Come sit on the sofa. It's a lot more comfortable." She parked herself on the sofa and pulled him down next to her. "Hey, why did you need my wand, anyway?"

"If I told you that that was just a ruse to be able to see you again because I liked you terribly at Hogwarts, would you believe me?"

Ginny studied his face and saw his mischievous look. "Maybe. You like me, huh?"

"Maybe."

Ginny hit his arm playfully, "Then no, I wouldn't believe you."

He put on a sad face and placed his hand over his heart. "You've hurt me terribly."

"Horribly sorry. But you're avoiding the subject. Why?"

Draco sighed. But she was right; he had been avoiding the subject. Though there was some truth in what he had said about liking her, perhaps just not in Hogwarts. "Some crazy wizards. They reckon that they can resurrect Him with a wand that was present during his fall. Load of cr – er... rubbish, but there you have it. The other wands have been locked inside a special safe. Dumbledore's personally making sure they're all safe."

"And you were sent to retrieve mine," she stated, matter-of-factly.

"Right. You've asked your question, my turn. Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Ask whatever you like. Whether I answer depends on the question."

"What made you leave?" Ginny clamped her lips tightly together. "Look, I'm just asking because there were a flurry of reasons and rumors then, and I always just wondered."

"I thought you didn't care about Weasleys. I thought we were too poor, not worth your damn time."

"I didn't say that," he retorted, getting angry and annoyed.

"Damn you, you know. Here I am, thinking that you could be remotely nice when you ask a stupid and personal question."

"You said I could!"

"Don't be a bloody git!"

"You don't be a bloody git! And you talk about me, look at yourself. Are you even Ginny Weasley anymore? Hell, I bet your own parents would freak if they saw you. How do you know they even care about you?"

"Been there, done that," Ginny muttered sullenly, but that didn't stop him from noticing the tears at the corner of her eyelids. She leant back on the sofa and shut her eyes. He took in her appearance, from her mused hair to her painted toenails. She was who she was. Which Ginny that was, he had no right to question her. He took her hand.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm terribly, terribly sorry. I had no right to-"

"Heck, it's not all your fault. I shouldn't have gone off at you that way." She opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"So why did you-"

"No."

"But I just-"  
  


"No."

"Hey, I just wanted to-"

"Don't push your luck, all right."

"Sorry," he muttered, rather disappointed that he hadn't managed to solve 'The Great Weasley Mystery'. But then she had to go and lean her head on his shoulder, and come _really_ close to him.

"Hey, maybe I'll tell you one day. When I'm sure you won't disappear suddenly and go sell the story to The Daily Prophet. I'd like you to stick around for a little while, thanks."

"You want me to stick around for a while?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do."

~*~*~*~*~

**A/N:** Review, review!


	3. Draco: Daddy

Now, Then And Forever

Now, Then And Forever

**Disclaimer:** Everything from the last chapter's disclaimer applies here. But I don't remember what I put so I'll say it again. It's J K's **not** mine. (See how the **not** is bold and underlined?)

Chapter 3 – Draco: Daddy 

Ginny awoke to the smell of pancakes. Fresh made pancakes. She immediately had a vision of a magnificent pile of hot pancakes dripping melted butter and almost immediately started drooling. She sprang to her feet and walked to the door. The wonderful smell grew stronger. Then she saw a flash of blond hair. It was Draco. Wearing an apron, standing in front of her stove. And he was _cooking_. _Cooking_! She couldn't contain her laughter and started giggling uncontrollably. Which cause him to whirl around and glare at her indignantly.

"What the heck is it, Ginny?"

"Draco... apron!" she coughed in an attempt to smother her giggles. "I mean... Draco Malfoy... cooking... stove!" she started spluttering again. Draco came up to her side and started patting her back. She burst out laughing again and felt her legs give way. She grasped his arms and made an effort to stand up and try to regain her dignity. 

"Excuse me for trying to be nice to you," he muttered, annoyed. "Last time I do anything like this again. I was just trying to make it up to you for being-"

"Annoying. A git. Nosy. A pig. Or a ferret!" she chuckled again. Draco's arm slid around to cover her mouth and cut off the seemingly endless supply of giggles.

"Did I ask you? Anyway, this was the only apron in the whole damn house."

"I don't cook much. Normally I go out with my friends or stick something frozen in the microwave. But it's good that you're aware that the apron–which should speak for itself, really–has a fluffy bunny rabbit on it." 

She pulled herself away from his clutch and took him in again. His hair–normally so perfectly groomed–was mussed from sleep. Of course, there was the apron. The red apron with a white rabbit standing out from it. Red and white, she mused. So much opposites yet they go so well together. Her eyes traveled up his body, to his face, where his smirk made her aware of the fact that she was staring. _Don't go red, don't go red. Don't blush, don't you dare blush. Not in front of Draco Malfoy. _She did anyway, and his smirk widened. 

"Looking at something Ginny?"

"What makes you think that?" she muttered, somewhat embarrassed. 

"Perhaps the fact that you were... Oh, I'll go out on a limb here. Maybe because... you were looking?" 

She was about to get annoyed when she got a vision of Draco in a field of red flowers, white bunny rabbits jumping alongside him; his striking blond hair making him blend right in. She started giggling again. And once again his hand reached around and covered her mouth. "Women," he muttered. This was met with a jab in the gut.

"Look, Draco, you've gone to all this trouble, so why don't you hop along there and get us some food?" She smiled at her rather lame pun. (Which of course he wasn't aware of – she wasn't about to share _that_ visual image with him.) It widened to a grin as he did as she had told him to, with just a couple of grumbles. _This is going to be fun..._

***

"That was nice!" Ginny smiled prettily at him. "I had no idea you could cook. I always figured you were the owning a house-elf kind of guy."

"I do. But I went through a rebelling stage where I made friends with a house-elf. She taught me how to cook."

"Ooo, bad rebelling Draco." Ginny smiled wickedly.

"Yup." He smiled back. "But," he added as an afterthought, "my father never found out anyway, so it was a bit of a waste. By the way, what were those?" 

"You don't know what they are?"

"No, not really."

"Then why did you make them? And _how_ did you make them?"

"There was a nice picture on the cover. And there were instructions on the box." He smiled rather sheepishly. Suddenly the doorbell rang.

"Oh!" Ginny jumped up. "I forgot! I... uh... was meant to baby-sit for a friend of mine. Would you mind? Just... wait here." She ran to the front door. Draco ambled there too, taking his time.

"...remember to feed Emily her medicine after lunch, and Ben's feeling crabby lately. Don't worry if he cries more than normal. The doctor says he's fine. Make sure Emily doesn't share anything with him though or he might get her cough. Don't... oh. Oh! Sorry Gin, I didn't know you had _company_."

"I... oh, you mean Draco?" Ginny gave a nervous laugh as she saw Draco come up to them. "Don't worry, he's a friend. From... school. Yeah! He's a friend from my old school." 

Draco saw how nervous she was and a naughty thought flitted into his head. He decided to spice things up a little and give her friends a little to talk about. "Friends, luv? I thought we were a little more than that..." he smiled at her friend meaningfully. "I only met her again yesterday." He slung an arm over Ginny's shoulder and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"Well then, I'll just leave you two alone now. Don't worry about the kids, they'll be good as gold." She smiled at Draco meaningfully and gave Ginny a wink before shutting the door, leaving them alone with the two children.

"_Draco_!"

"Yes?" He gave her as innocent a look as any Malfoy could.

"Wha... why... you... git!" she spluttered. "You... Liz thinks... we... argh!" 

"Now now Gin, hon," he coaxed. "Why are you getting all worked up?"

Ginny shook off his arm and glared at him, hands on waist. "Draco... now she thinks that we... we..." She blushed a deep red. He just looked at her, wicked gleam in his eyes. 

"Never mind. And here I was wondering why all the Gryffindors hated Slytherins _that_ much, when you didn't seem too bad at first. You're definitely living up to your reputation Draco – sneaky, sly-"

"-clever, smart, rich, incredibly good-looking..."

"Not to mention _ve-ry_ modest," Ginny added dryly.

"Ah-em. But of course."

Ginny picked up a baby–Emily-from the double pram and plopped her in Draco's arms. He looked at her bewilderedly and shot a frightened look at Ginny. "Oh, for heaven's sakes, take her to the living room."

"Me? Ginny, you take it." He held the baby an arms length away from him. Ginny pushed his hands away from her – back towards Draco.

"Nuh uh. I've got Ben. You take _her _(Heavens–_it_!) to the living room now and start playing with her. I'll be right along. Now," she told him firmly. "Listen to me Draco. By the end of this day you'll be as good a dad as any guy can be. Hopefully."

***

"See then, it's not too bad, is it now?"

"Yes it is," Draco grumbled, but aside from it all, he really wasn't as annoyed about baby-sitting as he acted to be. "For me. But you're good with kids. I wouldn't have expected you to be."

"Why?"

"Well, you know..." Ginny looked at him quizzically. "It's the whole... bad girl image." He wanted to hit himself as the words came out. But she didn't look offended at all. Just amused. Which maybe was just as bad. She was laughing at him. _Again_! For the what? Hundredth time that day?

"Bad girl image? Dunno, I never thought of it that way. I assume you mean my clothing and such? It was just so annoying back... then. Being the youngest and all. This is my time to just be me, and screw anyone else who has any other ideas. Anyway, I like kids. People always bossed me around–Ginny do this, Ginny do that. Now it's _my_ turn!" she smiled cheerfully at Draco-who was listening interestedly-before rambling on.

"I wouldn't have thought it of you, too. Being the dad sort."

"_What_!" he gasped, flabbergasted. _Dad sort_?

She ignored him and continued her little speech, "Look, the kids absolutely adore you. They like you so much it's cute. You'd make a wonderful dad someday. Really!"

"Yeah," he drawled sarcastically. "Right."

"Shhh," Ginny hissed suddenly. "Em said something."

Emily held her hands out to Draco and giggled happily. "Dada!"

Draco shot a desperate look at Ginny, "Please... tell me she did not just say what I think she said."

"Oh!" Ginny burst out in a fit of hysterical laughter. "She… she called you Dad!" Ginny picked Emily up and swung her into Draco's arms. "Daddy Draco! May I say... I told you so! Daddy Draco!" Emily gurgled.

~*~*~*~*~

**A/N:** Ooo, a kiss! (On the forehead, but still, a kiss!) And Daddy Draco! I had no clue that was coming in... it just did! J Review please. Or I'll send the babies after you. "_" ß Evil eyes... Just review! I'll do a thanks section next chapter! Promise!

**Thanks to...**

** **

**ginny5**, **[pyrobunnie][1]**,[**Apocalypse**][2], [**w&m_law**][3], [**Butterflygurl**][4], [**natz_hp_fanatic**][5], **Alex, jane Bob, anchud, A persona – **Thanks for reviewing! I love reviews! J Review, review! You get you own little space up here! (I'd love this bit to be so much bigger… Hint, hint…)

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	4. Dancing’s Not Quite Fun

Now, Then And Forever

Now, Then And Forever

**A/N:** I was going to do a chapter on One Day but I've got writer's block on that. And I hate everything I write. But ideas are bubbling for this fic. (But I hated the last chapter anyway. Maybe it's a phase.) So if I write this, I might be able to write for that fic. I _hate **hate** **hate**_ writer's block. By the way, there is a plot. As you'll see soon. (I hope…)

**Disclaimer:** It's really not mine, really. It's all J.K.'s. Every plant and creature and person and spell and hex and curse and charm and potion and character and git and every blond git and every lightning bolt scar and I'm rambling myself so I shall stop now. J

Chapter 4 –Dancing's Not Quite Fun 

** **

"C'mon," Ginny tugged on Draco's arm. "We're going out."

"Where?" Draco grumbled. He never knew children could be so exhausting. He certainly was never that noisy and loud and exuberant as a child. His mother had always said he was such a "good little boy". But however children acted now he had definitely breathed a sigh of relief when their mother picked up_ those_ two.

"Out. Dancing. At a club." 

He shouldn't have been surprised. She seemed like the type who would enjoy dancing. But he'd seen what Muggles called dancing. Clutching each other so tight and snogging and wriggling around or hopping all around the dance floor like maniacs. There was no skill involved in that. His father had made sure he had proper dancing lessons. He didn't particularly like waltzing with a teacher heads taller than him, but real dancing certainly beat hugging bodies.

"No. I don't want to go out dancing. We'll be _surrounded_ by Muggles snogging. And they dance horribly."

"Oh, I see. You're scared." She gave him a sly look. 

"Little Draco's scared of going out around Muggles. Well, it's all right then. We don't have to go if you're scared."

"I'm not scared!" Draco exclaimed indignantly. "I just think it's a waste of time going to one of those stupid Muggle clubs."

"You're scared."

"No I'm not!"

"Yup."

"No, I'm not!"

"Scared."

"No!"

"Yeah."

"Let's go," Draco grabbed Ginny's hand in a huff.

"I knew you'd see it my way," said Ginny, grinning.

"And I wonder how in the world you were a Gryffindor. You would have made a good Slytherin."

"Thanks," Ginny said, knowing that was as close to compliment that Draco had ever given her.

"You can't go like this, though. Give me your wand." 

Draco stared at her. 

"I can do some magic, you know. And I don't see what other option there is unless you want to go out like you are."

"What's wrong with my clothes?" His boss had picked them out for him to make sure that he blended in with the Muggles.

"They're just so... un-clubby. I wouldn't be caught dead wearing what you wear in a club. Don't argue. Just hand over the wand, would you?" 

Draco stuck both his hands up in mock surrender and gave his wand to Ginny. His own – hers wasn't leaving his side. 

"Drecesi Immediata," she said, and a flash of black light ebbed from the wand, and from the middle spread-eagled its way over Draco's body. He looked down at himself and growled.

"Ginny!" She, however, was too busy staring to answer him. "Ginny Weasley!"

"Huh?" she muttered dazedly.

"You're staring at me," he half-heartedly accused.

Her head snapped up. "Was not!" 

He noticed her eyes were slightly glazed. And by all means, they had good reason to. Draco Malfoy was wearing leather pants. Draco Malfoy looked very good in leather pants. And his leather jacket. And the very tight dark blue T-shirt. Every girl would be drooling. 

_Oh!_ Damn it, _every_ girl would be drooling! Over _her_ Draco. Maybe he wasn't technically hers, but... "Maybe we should put dancing on hold. You know, until we get you some proper clothes. Those look awfully tight." She laughed hoarsely.

** **

"No, I'm not too bad. You're wearing them. But Muggles wear these clothes? Now I _know_ they're stupid."

"Are you sure? We don't have to go, we could just stay and... talk."

"No, let's go." 

She was nervous about something. And she was stuttering. And she hadn't said anything about his remark on Muggles. That was strange. Draco wasn't terribly sure if it was good or bad, but whatever it was, she was staring at him. And he _knew_ it. And he was playing it out to his best advantage. Definitely. 

***

"This is some place," Draco shouted– somewhat impressed. 

It was one of Ginny's more frequent 'hangouts' since it was close to her house and many of her friends went there. The lights were too bright and flashing and the music was too loud but what the heck, it was fun. The place was simply splitting at the sides with thrill and stimulation. 

"Yeah! I love coming here. I come all the time with my friends," she yelled back, over the music, answering his unasked question: _Do you come here often?_

_ _

__"Do you want to dance?" she asked, but was suddenly cut off by a black-haired girl coming up to them and grinning at Ginny.

"Ginny! I didn't know you were coming today. Liz here?" 

Draco noticed she spoke with an American accent.

"No. I took care of Emily and Ben today while she went off with Rob. They probably want 'alone time' since it's their four year anniversary. The kids got picked up sometime ago. They must be having family bonding time."

"How sweet," the girl made a face and Ginny laughed. "But it has been an age. So you came alone."

"Not quite." Her friend looked at her in surprise. Ginny gestured vaguely. "This is Draco."

"Draco. Hey. Tessa." She gave him a friendly smile before leaning over to Ginny and in a slightly lower tone–but not quite low enough–murmured to Ginny, "Ooo, new guy. Must say, hottest in a while, if not ever," Ginny jabbed her in the ribs. 

"Ow! Don't worry, off limits, I know. But still, all that leather – did you bring him out shopping?"

"Something like that,' Ginny muttered.

"I'll leave you two alone. You heading _Upstairs_?"

"No! Listen, I'll see you later, okay?" She started pulling Draco away before she had finished the sentence, leaving the other girl with a knowing smile on her pretty face before pulling some random guy from the crowd and dancing with him.

"Something special _upstairs_, love?" Draco murmured, putting extreme focus on _upstairs_.

"No. Uh, maybe. Look, it's nothing. Just a room. Oh, I might as well tell you," she decided. "It's… uh… thesnoggingroom."

"Didn't catch that. What was it again?" he repeated calmly, a wicked smile on his face.

"It's the snogging room. The place where people go and snog and do... other stuff. It's nothing. Can we dance now?" She was impatient to get the focus off _Upstairs _(And regular visitors really called it that. _Upstairs_.) and onto the dance floor, where she was keen to start dancing.

"I need to go to the toilet," he grinned and she sighed-exaggerating her annoyance-before pointing him in the right direction. 

"Wait for me."

"No problem. I'll just sit here like an outcast waiting for you. After all, I have nothing better to do." 

She sighed irritably. She suspected that Draco didn't really need to go, but was merely trying to get out of dancing with her. She sat down at the table and noticed a guy come and sit by her. She smiled slightly at him.

"Hey." He flashed her a gorgeous smile that must have melted hearts many times previously. "My name's Tony."

"Ginny," she told him, eyes still focused on the direction Draco had retreated in. 

"I know." 

At her surprised look, he quickly added, "I've been here once or twice before. I saw you dancing and, well, you're pretty hard to forget about." He blushed. "That hair of yours... it really... I don't know." He coughed nervously. "I'm sorry. I just saw you and asked around. You seem to be a regular here. Look, you must think I'm a weird stalker. If you want me to go, I will." He gazed at her, waiting for her verdict on his little speech.

"It's all right. I'm quite flattered, really." What else could she have said, she wondered.

"Then would you dance with me?" He was looking at her so hopefully, she felt that saying no would be like taking candy from a baby. 

He saw her hesitate. "Sorry, I just thought I'd ask." He stood up to leave and she made her mind up quickly.

"No, I'll dance with you." 

Let Draco wait. He had been the one to go off anyway. She got up and let Tony lead her up to the dance floor. The fast song stopped rather abruptly and a slow, romantic song drifted on to take its place. But Ginny was too distracted to notice it. 

She remembered that morning. Draco had been great. It had been great fun with playing with the kids–she had more fun then than she ever had going out with her friends. So absorbed in her thoughts, she didn't realize that Tony had put his arms around her and was pulling her very closely to him. So wrapped up in remembering the morning, she didn't realize Tony was looking at Draco coming closer to them. So engrossed in her own little world, she didn't realize what Tony was doing until it was too late. 

He was kissing her.

Ginny was furious. Who did this guy think he was? She was just dancing with him because he seemed to want to so much, but kissing her? She was about to put him away when a familiar flash of silver-blond hair went past her eyes. It was Draco. He had seen her. Was he upset? He pushed his way out the door, leather jacket flying. 

"Damn," she swore, angrily. She pushed Tony away from her quickly. 

"What the hell do you think you were doing!" she exclaimed, but didn't wait for his answer. She ran out, heading to the door, worming her way around then dancing couples.

Tony didn't appear to be annoyed or sorry at all. Instead he smiled wickedly. "Plan B - Part 1: complete, extreme success." He laughed silently in his mirth. 

~*~*~*~*~

**A/N:** I'll be focusing on this fic more that any others as I plan to finish it in a couple of chapters. (Knowing me though, I'll take longer. g) There is a sequel coming definitely. I like that more than this. Hah. Next chapter everything gets more involved, the plot deepens and we find out exactly who Tony is. It's done, I'm just waiting for the reviews to come in! 

**Thanks to...**

**ginny5**, [**pyrobunnie**][1],[**Apocalypse**][2], [**w&m_law**][3], [**Butterflygurl**][4], [**natz_hp_fanatic**][5], **Alex, jane Bob, anchud, A persona – **Thanks for reviewing! I love reviews! J Review, review! You get you own little space up here! (I'd love this bit to be so much bigger… Hint, hint…)****

   [1]: http://www.fanfiction.net/index.fic?action=Directory-AuthorProfile&UserID=51884
   [2]: http://www.fanfiction.net/index.fic?action=Directory-AuthorProfile&UserID=100964
   [3]: http://www.fanfiction.net/index.fic?action=Directory-AuthorProfile&UserID=43169
   [4]: http://www.fanfiction.net/index.fic?action=Directory-AuthorProfile&UserID=41797
   [5]: http://www.fanfiction.net/index.fic?action=Directory-AuthorProfile&UserID=103268



	5. Close To Death

Now, Then And Forever

**A/N:** The plot thickens now! And you'll find there is one! Yahoo!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, J.K. owns everything. 

Chapter 5 – Close To Death Somewhere in North England 

"Success, then?"

"Extremely." Draian Mock grinned proudly.

"Don't get so smart," Reran Snape growled. Unlike his uncle, Severus Snape, he was and always had been a loyal supporter of Voldemort. Even after Severus had been exposed as a spy for Dumbledore, he had stayed by Voldemort's side, making his way up, as he slowly became His right-hand-man, replacing Wormtail. "If you hadn't screwed up Plan A, we wouldn't have to go through all this trouble because there wouldn't _be_ a Plan B."

"But sir," he complained, "that Weasley girl was always around all her friends. I couldn't get to her alone."

"Then ask her out when she was around her friends. Get close to her, get into her house, get the damn wand. What was so hard about that?"

"If it's so easy, why didn't you do it," Draian muttered angrily.

"Crucio," Reran said off-handedly. "You were the only one capable of seducing the Weasley. I didn't do it because I needed to make sure everything went smoothly here. These others couldn't have dome it anyway." 

There were moderate grumbles in their little group that Reran silenced with a look. "But it doesn't matter now. Finite Incantatum." He glanced over as Draian stopped his shuddering on the ground and got up rather shakily. 

"We're no closer to getting the other wands, anyway. Nott, report."

"Right, sir. The wands of Potter and the others are securely locked up. A number of spells have been placed on them. We are quite sure that getting them would be a whole lot of trouble we don't want. The fool Dumbledore made sure of that."

"Are you checked all that out?" 

Ayden Nott nodded. 

"Good work. But we don't need them. I admit, Potter's would have been excellent as he was the one who brought down our Master, but the Weasley's will do almost as well." He glanced around.

"Quillan is off finding Draco Malfoy, is he not?" The former Death Eaters murmured assent. 

"He will come to his senses. Quillan can be very convincing. Draco is vulnerable, he has been hurt. The wand is ours already," he laughed gleefully. "The Master will rise, we shall be his most honoured!" 

***

Draco didn't know why he was so upset. He didn't know why he felt like crying and yelling at the same time. But damn the Weasley. He had told her to wait for him. Instead she went off traipsing with some person he doubted she even knew, and then she bloody kissed him! She was kissing some stranger. Fine, damn her. She could do whatever she wanted. It wasn't like he owned her or anything. And it wasn't like she was dating him. And he didn't want to be dating her! Did he? He didn't know. 

Draco walked into a dark alleyway. He saw out of the corner of his eye a shadow of a man but ignored it. He kept his head down, looking at the ground. The man stepped out of the shadows, into Draco's path. He snapped his head up, annoyed, ready to bark at the man. However, the stranger beat him to it. 

"My name is Janzec Quillan," he said in a silky voice. "I come to strike a deal with you."

"Sorry, striking mysterious deals with guys with weird names in a dark alleyway isn't really my thing. And if you're talking about _those_ deals, well, I don't swing that way, if you catch my drift," he said morosely. 

"Draco Malfoy, if I'm not mistaken, your name is also rather strange. I know a lot more than your name too," he told Draco. 

"You know a person by the name of Ginny Weasley. You have a possession of hers that I have been searching for."

"You want the wand," Draco said flatly.

"You are smart. Yes, I want the wand."

"Sorry, the wand's going to Dumbledore. What makes you think I'd give it to you, anyway?"

"I said I had a deal for you. You give me the wand; I'll give you Ginny Weasley. She would be only yours. To kill, to torture, to use in other ways." Janzec Quillan smiled evilly. "Complete control over her. Those idiots at the Ministry, how will they award you? By taking the wand and giving you another's fool errand. You'll never make a name for yourself there. Give me the wand, join our ranks. When our Master rises he'll know how you helped. You'll be renowned, and you'll have the redhead by your side." He was starting to get to Draco. 

Draco stared at him. "I get Ginny? I get power? I get everything?" He looked at Janzec and laughed, before reaching in his pocket and drawing out a wand. "I'm sorry, I don't want those things and I don't want her. Not like that. And by the way, she's not yours to give." 

It was _his_ wand. 

"Expelliarmus," he growled. He caught Janzec's wand as it flew to him, and punched the other man in the face. He then proceeded to snap the wand in two. 

"Sorry 'bout that. I just don't like you guys very much. Nothing personal." He looked at the slumped figure. "See ya, I'm off to find Ginny. If I'm going to get her, I'm going to get her the _proper_ way." He turned on his heel and walked away.

***

Draco hurried back to Ginny's house. Contrary to what he had told Janzec, he wasn't going to try and get Ginny. She evidently wanted someone who would go out with her, like the same things she liked. He wasn't that person. He was going to apologize for running off, undo the effects of the clothing spell and Apparate back to the Ministry. He certainly wasn't going back there with _these_ clothes on. As for saying sorry, it was he least he could do. Draco wasn't a very repentant person; he could count the amount of times he had said sorry on the fingers of one hand. But he figured it would at least make Ginny feel a little better, especially if she was mad at him.

He stopped suddenly at a familiar figure sitting on Ginny's sidewalk. The person moved her head and a flash of red hair met his onlooking eyes. It was _Ginny_ who was slouched over the side, head in hands. Every few seconds her body would give a shiver. He took a hesitant step towards her. Had someone hurt her? 

"Has someone hurt you?" he asked cautiously.

She raised her head and stared at him with her soulful brown eyes. "Yes."

"Who..." His voice trailed off. He didn't know what to say. She had been crying, that much was obvious. 

"You did." Her voice rose and wavered before she continued. "Why did you run off? I was looking for you... I didn't try to kiss him, he kissed me. And even then, why should that bother you?" she demanded slightly angry. Then her voice softened and her head fell into her hands again. 

"We're just friends, aren't we? Or are we even that? Because I don't know what you want from me. If I'm supposed to wait around for you, I don't do that anymore. I did that for Harry, and nothing good came out of that. I let everyone walk over me and nothing good came out of that either, unless you count me wising up and getting the hell out of there. I..."

He covered the remaining area between them with a large stride. He took her face from her hands, tipped it up to face him and cupped it in his hands. "I don't know either," he whispered huskily. He looked in her eyes, and he felt like he was drowning in their brown depths. 

"But we have now." 

He kissed her, and he held her.

~*~*~*~*~

**A/N:** Ah, we have plot goodness and we have fluff goodness. I like this chapter. J Finally! Please review! 

**Next chapter: **We learn about Ginny's mysterious past – The Great Weasley Mystery. We find out more about the wicked plans of those mean Vol - You-Know-Who supporters. Sorry it took so long! The next chapter's half finished, so it should be out soon. Reviews would do a lot to make me feel better and write faster. I have no inspiration now... Thanks coming soon…


	6. The Past Haunts You

Now, Then And Forever

**A/N:** Bad news. Somehow my files got deleted including the entire plan of Now, Then and Forever and its sequel, Once and Once Again. Some is stored in my head, but so much is gone. I'm still working on trying to get them back, but no good so far. The fics had backups on the computer, thank goodness. I'm so mad (Argh!!!), so apologies for the amount of time it might take now to get chapters out. I'm working on a new plan now.

**Disclaimer:** I think I've read thousands of HP disclaimers (almost), and they all have different words. But they all mean the same thing. (All together now) It's J.K. Rowling's! See?

**Chapter 6 – The Past Haunts You**

****

They sat on Ginny's couch, Draco's arm around Ginny, her head resting on his shoulder. They had been in that position for sometime now, content simply with the knowledge that the other was near. 

"Draco?"

"Gin," he looked down at her.

"Do you..." She hesitated for a moment before carrying on, "...still want to know about... then?"

"Do you want to tell me?"

She smiled. "Yes. Yes I do."

"Go on then."

"It haunts me, Draco. That night, I'll never forget it. It hurts. I hide behind all the bad girl attitude, behind the façade of not caring, of not feeling. But sometimes I just feel so much that I... I go numb with pain."

"You don't have-"

"I know I don't have to tell you. But I've never told anyone, and... I don't want to have to keep it to myself anymore." He simply tightened his hold on her. Comforted by the simple gesture, she told him her story.

*

**_The Burrow, Five Years Ago {Ginny POV}_**

****

"Gin!" George called. "Harry's here!" Ginny blushed heavily. She still had her crush on The-Boy-Who-Lived, even after the six years they had had together at Hogwarts, and the further 2 years she seen him on his frequent visits to the Burrow. It was absurd, a nineteen-year-old girl crushing on the same someone she had crushed on as an eight-year-old child. It didn't help that he was her protective older brother's best friend. Or that each of her six brothers would permanently harm whomever so much as looked at her the wrong way. She hurried down the stairs.

_"Hey Gin," he smiled at her. She felt her already red face redden even more._

_"H... Hi," she stuttered. She really hated the way she couldn't even form a coherent sentence around him. He probably thought of her as some little kid who was so awed by his successes that she couldn't speak properly. She felt half relieved and half disappointed as he turned to Ron and continued on their discussion of Quidditch. Was that all they ever talked about?_

_"I'll go check on lun..." Molly Weasley's voice trailed off as her eye fell on the clock. Every single hand was on the Mortal Peril area, including Harry's, which they had added as a gift to him. She started gasping. "Get out!" she shouted hysterically. "Go! He's coming!"_

_The friendly chatter in the room stopped. The door smashed open. And there stood Voldemort, in full power, sending a chill of dread through the room._

_Ginny wanted to scream, to shout, but she felt the Full Body Bind hit her and she fell to the ground. And she couldn't believe the next words she heard._

_"_Get out!"-

"Don't worry about-"-

"Just go! Save yourself and forget about who's behind!"

_Could those cutting words really belong to her family, the family she held so close to her heart? Would they really leave her to Voldemort? Did they care nothing for her? She never would know the answer, because darkness came, and she embraced it._

_*_

_Ginny woke in time to see Voldemort's end. But she couldn't remember how, or why, because the only thing in her mind was:_ Her family didn't care about her.

And so she left.

*

"I don't know what to say," Draco whispered slowly.

"You never do, when you find out your family doesn't care for you," she muttered bitterly.

"I always knew my family didn't care," he told her, matter-of-factly. He wasn't looking for pity; in fact, it was the very thing he didn't want. It was simply a statement. And she knew so.

"Any other questions?" she looked at him, daring him to say yes.

"No." He had learnt quite enough for one night. But he couldn't see how the Weasleys could be so callous. They had always seemed like the perfect family (except with a little less money) and Ginny had always seemed to be the perfect daughter. Something wasn't quite right, and he couldn't quite pinpoint it. He was sure it had something to do with the dark arts, but he had forgotten much of his father's training when he became an Auror. He was torn out of his musings by her voice.

"So, what do you want to do?" She continued without waiting for his answer, "We could watch a show, or go for something tamer after our... interesting night, like Monopoly or Scrabble. I'm sure I could dig up something. And we can order pizza!" She grinned at him.

To be quite frank, Draco hadn't a clue at all what she had just said. A show where? And what were _Moponoly_ and _Shabble_? Wasn't _Pizza_ a tower in Italy? "Uh, up to you Gin," he settled for finally.

She picked up something (which he remembered as a Telesomething from the compulsory Muggle studies they made him take one year in Hogwarts) and started talking through it. She set it back down on the nearby table and looked up at him expectantly.

"Yes?"

"Thanks, Draco."

"What for?" he asked, confused. 

"Just thanks," she said, and kissed him.

***

"Ron?" Hermione asked.

"What is it, Mione?" he looked at her and gently kissed her forehead.

"Do you miss Ginny?"

Immediately his face hardened. "No," he told her cuttingly.

"You do, Ron. I know you do. Don't you think that maybe..."

He sighed, resignedly. "Maybe sometimes I do. And maybe sometimes I wish that what happened wasn't true. But you know what you saw. _I_ know what I saw."

*

The Burrow, Five Years Ago {Ron POV} 

_"Hey Harry!" Ron greeted, as Harry approached The Burrow on his broomstick. Harry had always preferred that way of travelling rather than Floo Powder or Apparating, as he found it much more reliable. "Did you hear about the Quidditch?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hermione tut and shake her head, but concentrated on Harry._

_"Yeah!" Harry was saying, "Wasn't it simply _amazing_! The way he caught the Snitch at the end! What an uproar it caused, huh!"_

_"Oh, you could do that," Ron scoffed. _

_"Gin!" George called. "Harry's here." Ginny came running down the stairs a moment later, face flushed._

_"Hey, Gin," Harry greeted kindly._

_Ron heard Ginny mumble out some semblance of a greeting back, but concentrated on making Harry realize he was better than any Seeker for the Wimbourne Wasps._

_Ron heard his mother's voice trail off before she started screaming. "He's coming!" he heard her say._

_Out of habit he looked for Hermione. Pulling her close to his side, Ron proceeded to look for Ginny. And somehow, he couldn't comprehend what he next saw. _

_Voldemort burst in. He emitted such Power, Dark Power. And Ron saw Ginny jump up. Ron saw his baby sister, the one he had loved and protected as much as he could, go to Voldemort's side and bow deeply._

_"Master," she whispered, voice full of delight. _

"Master, you have come." Voldemort touched her bowed head with a long, bony finger.

_"You will be richly rewarded for giving them to me," he promised her. And Voldemort laughed._

_"No," Ron whispered, "no. Ginny, no. NO!"_

_"Yes, actually. Yes." She chuckled, amused. "Yes, yes, yes, yes! You all meant nothing to me. All this time, I was waiting for my master. It was _never_ you. _Never_."_

_"I won't let you do this," Harry said firmly, though his voice was trembling. "I don't know what the bloody hell you think you're doing, but I won't let you hurt them." He took out his wand and pointed it at Ginny. "I'm sorry," he whispered, and hit her with the Full Body Bind._

_Voldemort raised his wand and Harry repeated once more, "I'm sorry." and a blaze of green light hit Ginny._

_Ron no longer looked. He had seen enough. More than enough. It was Harry's fight now._

*

"I love you, Ron," Hermione whispered fiercely. "I love you so much it hurts. Don't ever, _ever_,believe otherwise, you hear me?"

"I love you too, Mione. I love you too."

***

The Tainted Woods, Five Years Ago {Death Eaters} 

****

"What!" he exclaimed.

"You fools! You imbeciles! You-" He calmed himself. Anger shown did no one any good. If there was one thing he had learnt from his Dumbledore-loving uncle, it was that.

"Let me understand this," he fixed them with a stare. "My Lord Voldemort is dead. He is dead because you idiots couldn't set a Shadow potion for the right person. I as good as made the bloody potion for you. I collected the ingredients. I said the spell. I stayed up night after night, watching it boil. Why? So My Lord could get the Potter boy. It was perfect-Make him think his friends didn't care, make those Mudblood friends of his assume that he joined our Lord. One way or another, the Potter boy would die. 

_"But what did _you _have to do? You had to set out the potion. One simple thing. Set the potion so the Potter boy would drink it-and you bloody **give it to the wrong fucking person!**" His outroar at the end startled the lives out of the Death Eaters there._

_"Everything we've worked for is gone! It's over! You lost everything because you couldn't do a simple task!" Reran Snape raised his wand to deliver the deathblow to all gathered before him._

_Then he paused. He paused, remembering something._

_"No. We can still return My Lord. All is not lost." _

_"Yet," he added._

***

**A/N:** Fini! That was a tough chapter to write! Any questions or comments can be sent to my email: dancing_with_the_burning_devil@hotmail.com. And of course, review! My two fave things: emails and reviews. I'll be going on holiday soon, so the next chapter will be a little while (I think). And the end is near... four more chapters according to my plan. Then There's the sequel.


	7. Arise

Now, Then and Forever

****

**A/N:** Only a couple of chapters more to go. I'm so excited. :) Then there's the sequel. Review, if you will. Bringing BadGirl!Ginny back, she disappeared for a couple of chapters there. Remember that Snape isn't Severus; it's the bad one mentioned in the past two chapters. I can't hate Sev now, what with all the great Snape fics out there. :) Slightly longer chapter, 3000 words give or take a bit. I'm making myself lengthen them. Whee!

**Disclaimer:** The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K., and she belongs to herself. 

Chapter 7 – Arise 

****

"Mmmfffttt," Ginny groaned groggily, as she felt a cool hand resting on her shoulder. "Sleepy... tired... hinklepoof...le...ftp..." She snuggled deeper into the blankets and scrunched her eyes tightly shut. The weight of another hand rested on her other shoulder. "Arrgghhh!" she groaned, and on impulse, her stray leg shot out and hit her "attacker" in the most delicate place on the human anatomy. Assuming, of course, that the "attacker" was male. "Go. Away!"

          _"Bloody freaking hell, you sodding idiot!" _

          She gave up trying to return to her dream-which she couldn't remember much of, just Draco and chocolate ice-cream...-and snapped her eyes open angrily. "Ooooo..." she whispered, sorrowfully, the change of mood evident.

Draco was glaring at her, gray eyes pain-filled. He was bent over, half crumpled on the ground, clutching his stomach. "What the hell you have to go do that for?" he growled.

"Sorry, oh, I'm so terribly sorry. I thought... I thought..."

"You thought I was a bloody punching bag, that's what you thought! You're one crazy woman!"

"I thought you were Ron!"

His eyes glittered, amused-though still painful. "I suddenly have a new found respect for your brother."

          "Actually, it's because he knows to stand back when waking me up. Don't smirk at me!" He smirked anyway. "Draco, Draco! You _are_ alright, right?"

          "Mmmm..." He grinned evilly. "You have to make it up to me..."

          "Oh, of course!" she smiled innocently. "I'll get you the "I love Voldemort!" shirt you always wanted next time we go out." She choked on her laugh when he tackled her on the bed.

          "Promise?" 

          "Mmm hmmm." He let her up.

          "Actually, I was wondering if you'd like to go out today. I noticed a park on my way back yesterday. We could go out for breakfast, go for a walk..."

          "With the Muggles?"

          "Hey, you managed. If you can do it, I can. It's not like we have to talk to them."       

          "Wait outside for me." Ginny pointed to the door.

***

Draco went to the box Ginny had previously taken the wand from. They had both decided to put it back there after the whole "Kissing-and-getting-mad-and-join-us-or-die" incident.

          He twisted the code number, undid the three curses, four hexes, and stopped the Alarm charm from going off. The wand was still there, untouched. It did a little to assure him on its safety. 

          On a sudden brainwave, he charmed a piece of cloth over the top, and placed some Muggle money on it. It looked just like the moneybox of a very cautious person now.

          He mixed up the number, re-cursed the three curses, re-hexed the four hexes, and charmed the Alarm charm on.

          Ginny came out. "What exactly are you doing?" she asked, looking over his shoulder.

          "Just checking," he told her quickly, and placed the box back in the drawer. "Let's go." He held out his arm.

          The wand was safe...

***

"They just left," Quillan reported. "It's safe to go in now." The group of three-Mock, Nott and Quillan-shed their Invisibility Cloaks and went up to the door.

          "Alohomora," Mock said, pointing out his wand. The door sprung open. "Quick!" he commanded, "Search the place for the wand. They must have hidden it somewhere.

          "Found it!" Nott cried out, after a while of creating chaos in the house. "I think," he added a moment later. "It's a box. They could be keeping it here." He put his hand into the drawer and picked it up, before dropping it like he would a hot poker. Green and red warts had sprung out from his hand. "They _hexed_ it, the bloody idiots!"

          "My god," Quillian muttered angrily. "Whatever did I do to get stuck with such idiots? Here, I'll do it." He pushed Nott out of the way and grabbed the box himself. Instantly his hand grew hedgehog quills and turned the most awful shade of purple. He screamed like a girl.

          _"Ahhhh!"_

          "Who's the idiot now?" Mock smirked. "They took better care than we expected. That Malfoy's smarter than I thought he'd be. Leave the box to me." He transfigured a cup into a heavy hammer, levitated it over the box and let it go. The box fell apart as he watched, satisfied. "Whoever said violence wasn't useful was wrong."

          He turned to look at his two companions. "So much easier than having to undo however many hexes they put on it, and they wouldn't think we'd do that, right? And any spell or charm on it wouldn't work since it's no longer in one piece. It's the easiest way out."

          "Look," he snapped suddenly, worry that Snape might use the Cruatious Curse on him again finally catching up. "Get rid of those hexes now. It won't do much good if you go back that way." He pocketed the wand "We're getting out of here right now."

***

Ginny opened the door, and stopped suddenly. Draco bumped into her from behind. "Whaaa..."

          The place was in disarray. Things tossed from tables. Fallen ornaments. But both their eyes shifted to the same place. The open drawer. The _empty_, open drawer.

          "Damn," they said together.

***

"Sir, I-we have the wand." Mock presented the wand to Snape, who grinned.

"At last!" He turned to look at the group of followers. "You are going to be witnesses to the rising of one of the two most powerful wizards _ever_! Heir of Slytherin, our Lord is once again going to be among us!" A cheer arose from them.

Snape turned to a person standing by. "Is the potion ready?" When he received a nod, he went to stand on a small platform by a black cauldron with gray smoke pouring out of it. 

The snake by his side, Nagini, hissed and twisted itself around his legs, before rising up, coiling partially into a spiral and looking inside the cauldron.

"Soon," he whispered to the snake, hissed even. "Soon, _lovely_, and your, _our_, Master shall be back. Soon..."

He pointed the wand and commanded,

_"Witness to the ruin_

_Now bear witness to the rise_

_Give back life you saw taken_

_Master, master, hear our cries!_

_Sonos Arisiie! Sonos Arisiie!_

_Arise!"_

A loud "_boom_" sounded, huge clouds of black smoke appeared, and the force pushed Snape away and slammed him into a tree.

          Then all was still.

***

As he saw it, Draco could do one of two things. He could contact the _Head Auror in his department, or he could go off and look for the wand himself,_ then call for back up. Option number one involved a great deal of shouting, then a lot of facing-You-Know-Who-and-running-the-risk-of-dying. Option number two involved a great deal of sneaking around, then getting shouted at, then much of facing-You-Know-Who-and-running-the-risk-of-dying. Either way, he supposed, he was getting the blunt end of the stick. This particular stick had two bloody blunt ends. He heard a loud thump coming from Ginny's room. He grabbed his wand and rushed there.

          An open suitcase was lying on the floor, clothes were scattered every which way, and Ginny was looking very sheepish.

          Draco glared at her. "What the hell are you doing?"

          "Packing," she answered curtly. "I'm getting out of here." She stuck her hand into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She flicked her thumb and lighted her cigarette. 

          "I've let you screw me over for too long already. I like who I am now. I like the girl I am. I hated the "listen to everyone, be the model daughter" Ginny. And I don't know why the hell I told you all that stuff that night. You try to come along, waltz right in and change the person I've spent five bloody years trying to create. Maybe I let you for a bit, but I'm not going to anymore. So I'm getting out of here." She took a deep breath after her short speech and looked at him fiercely. "Don't you dare try to find me." She looked straight at him and added, "again." She grabbed a random bunch of clothes and tossed then in the open suitcase.

          "You can't just leave!" he protested. "What about the wand? We have to find it! You have to come along with me and tell the Ministry about those people."

          "You go alone," she muttered, "I can't go back now."

          "You really think they would believe me?" he growled. "Sure, maybe one or two, but do you really think most of those snobs would take my word for such a load of rubbish? In case you didn't know, I _am_ a _Malfoy_. My father is stuck in _Azkaban_. Maybe you have to work out your issues, but I have mine too. People _hate_ me. They seriously _hate_ me from the bottom of their heart. It doesn't bother me, but it does get in the way sometimes."

          "In case you didn't know, me and my family aren't exactly under speaking terms either. Considering that more than half of them work for the Ministry in one way or another, it doesn't look good for me too."

          The silence took over for a while as they each tried to out glare the other. In the end, Ginny snapped her eyes away and returned to throwing clothes back in the suitcase.

          "According to you, they were the ones who tried to abandon you, five years ago, right?" Draco received a curt nod, and a fiercely thrown T-shirt in the bag. "So why do they seem a combination of upset and mad every time someone tries to ask about your disappearance? There was a whole uproar about it for a while, but no one was really told anything specific about it, just that You-Know-Who was gone and that Potter beat him. And no one there said anything else. Shouldn't you be upset, not them? Granted, I hated them all then, and even now, but you seemed like such a bloody perfect family!"

          Ginny thought for a second before shaking her head and tossing in another shirt. "I don't want to bother thinking and reminiscing now, because then we could be here for a while, which I don't have. You either help me pack then get out, or just get out. 'Coz I'm sure as hell getting out."

          The doorbell rang.

***

Ginny strode to the door and flung it open. "What?" she snapped, exasperated.

The shocked-and quite honestly frightened-delivery boy jumped back a step and held out a small package and a clipboard at arms-length. "Miss, I'm terribly sorry to bother you, but if you could only sign this I'll be off..."

Ginny gave him a look. 

And the boy realized that this was a perfect example of his future. Scary gorgeous women snapping and glaring at him. Then he realized that might not be such a bad thing...

"Hello in there?" Ginny snapped. "Don't disappear off into some insane land of your own now."

"S...sss... sorry," he stuttered nervously. "If you could only sign here..." he beckoned to the clipboard.

"No," she muttered, before seeming to make up her mind and raising her voice. "No, I won't sign your bloody forms. I've just found out that a cold-bloodless murderer who everyone _thought_ was dead could actually be coming back to life right about now, and even though I don't think it's my bloody fault, I know that everyone-and that's _everyone-_is going to think it is-was, whatever-anyway, and I really don't think I is, but I know hey will, because I really think they hate me, but why should I, since it's there bloody fault for all this stuff, one way or another." She paused from her seemingly endless sentence, and took another breath to begin again. 

"Do you think it's my fault? Do you? Urgh, sometimes family makes me so mad you know, and now there's other issues, and..." She growled a real, actual growl, "but hell, anyway, I don't think that anyone I know would be sending me stuff, so, no, I won't sign. You can go away now." She turned to shut the door on him.

He, who was now lamenting on ever agreeing to take this dead-end, opportunity-less, cheap-paying job. Even if he was completely broke.

The door swung open again.

***

          Draco smirked as a quaking delivery-boy boy took a jump backward. He had watched as Ginny rambled on without stopping at the boy, but finally decided it was time to step in after she closed the door on the Muggle.

          He swung the door open and gave the boy a smirk. "Hello."

          "Um... Hello?"

          Draco held out his hand. "I'll sign that, if you want. Gin's in a bad mood at the moment. You just happened to be in the firing range." He took the pen the boy was holding out and signed leisurely. It wouldn't hurt to instill a little more fear in the boy. For all he cared, he would have instilled even more. Though that didn't seem like a very hard thing to do. He was thrust a box and blinked as the terrified boy ran off, faster than he'd ever seen anyone run before.

          He went back in, looking at the back of the box. No "From" name or address. Actually, nothing at all.

          "Ginny?" he called. "Are you going to open it?"

          "No," she muttered as she whirlwinded past him. "You open it for all I bloody care. Like I said-"

          "-You're getting out of here. I know. Come up with something new, that bit's going stale. And while we're at stale, I told you too, you can't just leave. It's not going to be safer anywhere; everywhere's going to be hurt, you know. And you can't run away from yourself either, Ginny." While he was talking, his hands were busily opening the small package.

She started towards the door. He reached out and grabbed her arm with one hand, as the other was full with the item from the box he'd finally opened. "Do you not understand the words 'Voldemort is bloody back?'" he shouted. "You-"

He was interrupted by the immediate, familiar feeling they both knew. They were both jerked forward roughly, banging into each other; pulled into a swirling mess, sucked fiercely into a whirlwind force. Then it stopped, they hit the ground with a heavy thud, and landed in a heap at someone's feet.

A someone with a snake.

***

**_Ginny_**

_I knew it right away_

_There are times when you just get a feeling, a sort of knowledge, that something is going to happen, that something _will_ happen._

_And the minute Draco shouted... the minute he said what he did, I just knew. Unexplainably, indescribably._

_I simply knew._

***

**_Draco_**__

_          I should have suspected something, I really should._

_          Huh. Call myself a bloody Auror. Potter could have done a better bloody job than I could if he had gone to get the damned wand._

_          I swear, I didn't mean any of this to happen... Meeting her, talking to her... falling in..._

_          I don't know if I'm really 'falling in...' How am I suppose to know if I'm 'falling in...' when I've never 'fell in...' before?_

_          But even if it's not that, there's _something_._

_          Because when that portkey took us to god knows where, I would have normally wondered how to get me out. Or how I got into this bloody mess. Or who I could blame for getting me in this mess._

_          Me. Me, me, me._

Normally.

_          But when we fell from that damned portkey, all I really could think about, was how to get Ginny out._

***

**_Before..._**

****

_"My Lord?" Snape asked. He got up from his slumped position and cautiously went to where the smoke was slowly clearing. To where the cauldron had been. Had once been._

_          "It didn't work," he muttered to himself. "It didn't work!" he repeated, roaring at the Death Eaters. "Why. Didn't. It. Work!" The others there shrunk back, and Quillan went to a small pile of old books._

_          "The pages were stuck together, sir," he mumbled. "We missed a part."_

_"What was wrong?"_

_"It says here, 'In the event of the rising of a powerful dark wizard, the owner of the wand must say the incantation, to fully revive the wizard. Beware that in some-'"_

_          "Enough." Snape held up a hand. "Get me a Portkey. Get together the potion ingredients. We still have time. We're going to be meeting with a certain redheaded witch." He looked around at the still bent heads. "Now!" The Death Eaters snapped into work._

***

Draco felt the sticky sensation of liquid trailing down his left arm and forehead. He groggily raised his right hand and swiped the liquid off his arm.

He didn't have to look to know what it was, but somehow, everything up till then had been so surreal, that he found a need to reassure himself that this, was, indeed happening, and not just another dream, or rather, nightmare.

It was blood.

He blinked; and blinked again, willing the blood to go away. Willing the ever moving, never ceasing, snake to stop swishing and hissing. Willing for his head to stop its bloody throbbing. For the new surroundings and the two feet resting in front of him to freaking well disappear.

But most of all, willing, with all his mental power, for Ginny to disappear and go to a safer place.

Nothing happened.

He could have blinked for minutes, hours, days, even, and nothing would have changed.

Nothing.

          Then suddenly something inside him just... snapped. _'Ginny, you freaking idiot!"_ Every cell in his whole entire body seemed to be screaming. _'Ginny!'_

"Ginny?" he whispered softly. Hoping... "Ginny? Please, Ginny."

          He looked to his side, where her face should be. He could feel part of her body draped over him, but didn't move for fear that he would knock her off and hurt her. He met with her eyes. Her closed eyes.

          _"Gin?"_

          He felt his heart thump so hard it hurt. But her eyelids flickered and opened. Her beautiful chocolate-brown eyes looked straight at him. She smiled softly, but her eyes widened as she noticed the thin trail of blood running down his face.

          "Draco?"

          They stared at each other for so long, _so long_. Then they were interrupted.

"How sweet," the drawling voice came. "How bloody sweet! Romance in this filthy, reeking air. Sorry to burst your bubble of hearts and roses, but you actually are here for a reason. Well, one of you, at least."

Ginny's eyes were wrenched from his as her hair was roughly grabbed and her head yanked up. Draco growled in anger-and... possessiveness?-but he pushed everything away but Ginny.

Ginny, Ginny, and only Ginny. A little like he wanted the rest of his life to be like.

Ginny, who at the moment was being painfully hurt by some stupid damned sodding git.

Draco stumbled to grab her, hold her, do bloody _something_, but the man snapped his fingers.

"Quillian," he snapped sharply.

Draco's movements stopped as he was hit by the full body-bind. He lay on the ground, unable to do anything but watch.

Just watch...

***

**A/N:** The Portkey thing (to clear it up), they both got jerked because Draco was holding on to both Ginny and the box. Like Harry was holding on to the Cup and Cedric. I did plan to make this chapter a little longer, but I aimed for 3000 words and I got there, so I decided to stop. The cliffhanger I had planned was going to be a lot worse, anyway. But it looks like there might be more chapters after all. Goes to show I can't plan very well. :)


	8. Dark Curses

NOW, THEN AND FOREVER

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter characters, names, places and all things associated with Harry Potter are the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. The poem at the beginning is written by me and belongs to me. The spell used towards the end (Vita Li'ri) and the spell Snape uses (Fixus) are mine, I made them up.

CHAPTER 8 – DARK CURSES 

~Bonded by hatred, bonded by love

Bonded by purpose, together to serve 

Forever there be light, with it there be darkness

Truth be covered, uncovered with a curse.

Here for a greater good,

Here to change what is

What was

What was not.

Change the course of the future

Alter the timeline, no more clear

Saving us from our own kind

What we want, we try to find.~

"You're pathetic, you know," Snape commented, looking scornfully at Ginny. "You're nothing but a weak, useless, pathetic little girl."

"You've already called me pathetic, you idiot," Ginny snapped irritably, not allowing herself to show her fear. "If you're going to insult me, at least try a little harder. And anyway, I'd much rather be weak and pathetic than, well, you." She gave him a sarcastic smile.

Snape said nothing, but tightened his hold on her hair. "I'm the one in charge here, you fool. So you'd better wise up and start begging for your life. You never know, I just might decide to keep you around a little longer. Then again," he added, grinning evilly, "I might not..." He left that threat hanging, and his face took on a menacing look.

"You can't kill me, stupid. If you went through all this trouble to get me here, then you must want me for something or other. Thinking about it, I'm the real one in power here. So you better wise up yourself and start begging for _your_ life," she retorted mockingly.

Ginny was slowly recovering from the shock of the sudden portkey trip and decided it was time to do take things into her own hands. Draco was obviously not much help, not at the moment anyway. Since Snape was holding on to her hair with his right hand, leaving that hand useless, she brought her right elbow up and jabbed into his side. He let go of her in pain and she took the advantage and stepped-hard-onto his foot.

She prepared to bolt, when she finally realized Draco was still under the body-bind spell. You can't just leave him there, her mind hissed fiercely. She began to move towards him, when Snape's shrill cry sounded, cutting through the air like a razorblade.

"Get her!"

At once, the clumsy and uncoordinated bustle of figures around her began to take shape. They began to form a circle, pressing into her, the purpose at last becoming clear.

Get her...

They continued moving, closer and closer to her. The air began to heat from the clutch of bodies, it became hard to breathe; her breathing became labored. This is it, she thought, this is it. She could swear that she spotted a glint or two of menacing smiles, the shine of teeth grinning at her. Hoarse laughs floated randomly to her, she couldn't pinpoint the exact spot from whence they came.

They stopped moving. A small break formed in the tight circle and Snape's furious face surfaced. "_Fixus_," he cried.

A thin coil of rope bound itself around Ginny's hands, binding them together. He waved the circle away, but not before he issued them a warning. "Not yet, you fools. We still need the girl. Later perhaps, but not NOW!" They mumbled apologies and withdrew to the shadows once more. Snape took a few lengthy strides and looked Ginny in the face.

Then, so fast it was hard to believe that it had happened at all, Snape's hand whirled up and hit Ginny in the face. The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the suddenly silent area, and lingered a moment longer than it had to. No one spoke, until Ginny lifted her head and looked straight at Snape.

"What kind of man hits a lady when she's powerless to stop him?" she asked. "But then again, you're not a man, are you? You're not a human, you're a... thing."

"Watch that filthy mouth of yours," he growled. "Shut the hell up."

"Uh, sir?" A man appeared next to them, chewing his lip, hesitant to speak for fear of reprisal. "Don't you think we should begin the spell already? I mean, we took every possible protection to stop anyone interrupting us, but, well, you never know, right?" Finished saying what he had set out to say, he stepped back into the darkness quickly and it welcomed him, swallowing him up.

"I know that. I'm not stupid." Snape drew out his wand from within the folds of his long dark clock. He pointed his wand and Ginny and reversed the spell that bound Ginny's hands together. And then...

"_Imperio_," he hissed.

***

Draco opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out. He watched in horror as the wand jerked and Ginny walked up to face Snape. "Fight it, Ginny!" he thought fiercely. "You can do it. Just fight it, fight it, fight it! You're just as strong as he is, and you know it. You can just give in... You can't!"

Snape looked at Draco's stricken face. "It's no use, boy. She's too weak. She'll never beat me." To prove his point, he lowered his wand.

Ginny shuddered for a moment, her eyes glittered, and Draco's heart leapt. He was sure that she could beat Snape. But just as quick as his hopes had risen, they were dashed. The gleam disappeared and her eyes became dull. She lowered her head, and bowed.

Snape laughed. "You see, boy?" He smiled. "You see? This is power. Pure power. I could make her take a knife and stab you this very moment. Or stab herself, for that matter. I'm sure you'd really love that, wouldn't you?" He sighed, shaking his head. "You could have had that power, Draco. You were born into it, it was meant for you. It was your fate." He waved his hand, and two men walked up. As if reading his mind, they each took a hand of Draco's, pulling him up. Snape waved his wand lazily in Draco's direction, and he felt the spell being lifted from him.

Snape looked carefully at him as the two men disappeared once more. "It's not too late, Draco. It's never too late. Join us. Have the power, the wealth, the reputation you were born for, _made_ for. Join us and receive the fate that it yours, that was always meant to be yours."

Draco clenched his jaw. "I don't believe in fate," he sneered. "Fate is a load of rubbish made up by people who couldn't live in the present. I make my own path."

"Ah, but then you are wrong, boy. Your path was cut out for you long before you were born. It is in your name itself. You are a Malfoy. Like your father and your grandfather, and all those of whose bloodline you came from.

"I'm not like my father."

"Then why is it that you believe you are?" he asked. "I know what you feel. I remember what I felt when my uncle was revealed as a traitor of our master. You're angry with your father for dragging you down. Angry that you were never enough." 

Draco found a wave of anger rise up him. Anger at his father. Memories from his childhood drifted through his mind. The wall he had build around memories he never wanted to remember again broke and they flooded him, just as water breaks through a dam.

He opened his mouth to speak, not quite sure what it was he was about to say.

"I am correct." Snape broke into a grin. A malicious, evil sort of grin, but a grin nevertheless. He quite evidently loved being correct as much as the next person.

And that grin was all Draco needed to get control over his mind, his anger, himself, again. That grin was all that was needed to bring back the old Draco. The Draco that had power, and knew it. The Draco that everyone feared, simply because he was who he was. The Draco that everyone moved out of the way for. Everyone except Potter. But now, Draco had a new enemy.

"How dare you talk that way to me?" he hissed. "You should grovel, you should cringe. I am Draco Malfoy!"

Snape didn't see the difference. He couldn't tell that Draco had snapped. Snapped on him. He merely smiled again. "Ah, boy, you have joined us again."

Draco's legs felt wobbly, and weak, but when he took a stride forward, he was graceful, never once wavering. He walked next to Snape. He stood by him, slipping in naturally, like he has stood there all his life.  And Snape made his mistake.

"Bow!" he cried to the darkness. "Acknowledge his return to the Cause!"

The shadows around them wavered and the wind caught a mumble and grumble or two. Snape appeared not to hear them. At last, bent heads could be seen all around him.

Now...

Draco never hesitated. He swung his arm powerfully, and it connected with Snape's jaw. A reddish-purplish bruise appeared almost at once. Draco moved to strike again, but Snape moved quickly, dodging, all the while calling out.

Draco managed to get another punch in before he was pulled back and held with many powerful grips. He bit his lip to keep from yelling.

Snape glared at him, eyes boring deeply. "If that is your choice, then, I was wrong. It is too late for you now. No one can save you." He glared down at Draco.

Draco glared back. "You mean, no one can pull me down with them."

"Whichever way you word it, the meaning is still clear. You are of no more use to us. You have gone too far." He swung away, turning instead to Ginny. "Wand," he snapped, holding out his hand. A robed figure placed his wand in his hand-it had fallen out in the struggle.

"Game time is over. Time for business." And for the second time, he cried out "_Imperio_!" 

Ginny started moving. She walked up to the wand-her wand-that one of the ex-soon-to-be-again Death Eaters was holding out. She took it. She pointed it ahead. And she stopped.

Draco glanced at Snape. He was mumbling something, and Draco managed to catch snatched of his words, but nothing that made sense. Then, Ginny began to speak.

Her voice was hard, held an edge to it.

"Witness to the ruin

Now bear witness to the rise

Give back life you saw taken

Master, master, hear our cries!

Sonos Arisiie! Sonos Arisiie!

Arise!"

The black cauldron atop a platform-Draco didn't understand why he hadn't noticed it before-started sending out dark-red smoke. Snape stepped forward and tipped a slender bottle filled with a thick red substance inside it. Blood, Draco strongly suspected. 

As if his thoughts had been read, Snape spoke up. "Blood," he said, perhaps to all there, perhaps to no one. "Blood means life, blood means death. Rather ironic. Without it, we don't live. By this blood, Voldemort will return!"

He had a glint in his eye, a glint only seen in the eyes of those insane. He smiled maniacally. His hands shook. He looked drunk. "By the blood," he murmured, then again, but shouted this time: "By the blood!"

A miniature explosion sounded and shook the very ground on which they were standing on. Tremors ran through even after the initial blast. 

"By the blood!" Snape laughed hysterically. "The Blood!"

Draco didn't even want to know where the blood had come from in the first place. Then, his hands were released. No one cared about him, not now that the Dark Lord was coming back. They were huddled around the cauldron, all watching intently.

His mind started spinning, grabbing on to anything, anything at all, that could possibly get them both out. It was the best time; everyone's attention was on the still smoking cauldron. And once You-Know-Who was there, well, they could kiss their lives goodbye. Ginny was no longer any use to them and Draco-he had never been any use at all.

Suddenly, words from his father, spoken what seemed a lifetime ago, sprang to his mind.__

_"Draco. You must always remember this spell. If ever you see anyone with My Lord in trouble, and you both must get away, remember this."_

This... this... this... Draco tried and tried to remember his next words, all the while staring anxiously at the cauldron. Then they flowed smoothly to him.

_"The spell will bond two people together, if only for a moment. You do not need a wand to perform it. Then, you can Apparate, and the spell will drag the person along with you. Understand?"_

Oh, he had understood, all right. Not understanding his father's Dark Arts Lessons was hazardous. And for once he was glad for them. The fact that the spell was from the Dark Arts seemed unimportant, miniscule. If he could only remember... The spell, the spell...

_"That's wrong boy! You must focus your mind, see the line joining you both in your mind. Again! Vite Li'ri! Focus your mind! Put some force behind it! Vita Li'ri! Vita Li'ri!"_

"Vita Li'ri!" Draco hissed, strongly but softly, imaging the thin line joining him and Ginny together. "Vita Li'ri!"

A small sliver of gold shot silently from him, slid gracefully to Ginny and hit her. She shone gold for a split second, then looked just as she had a minute ago.

Draco looked worriedly at the cauldron, at the Death Eaters. Surely He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back by now. Surely they would have noticed what Draco was doing. Surely-

They were still focused on the cauldron, as it was still ever bubbling. Draco looked up and thanked whatever lord or deity was available.

But now what? He had no wand, Ginny was still under the Imperius curse. He looked around in a circle, from where he was now to the place where they had first arrived. Where they had first arrived by the portkey, which was still lying on the ground, forgotten. It had brought them there, but could it bring them back? But he was desperate, and a desperate man takes whatever he can. 

He took a step closer, never making a sound. Another, and another, until at last it was in his reach. He bent down, touched it, and held on.

He felt a tug, and looked back at the swirl of color. The Bonding spell would pull her along with him, but he couldn't stop worrying. He tried to concentrate on the time after they got back. His wand was still in Ginny's house. They could Apparate and-

The portkey brought him, with a thump, to Ginny's house. He saw a flicker of gold before Ginny, too, appeared on the floor behind him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to the spare bedroom, where his robes and, more importantly, his wand, were.

His fingers fumbled in the pockets of his robes, before grasping onto the thin handle. He pulled it out and pointed it at Ginny.

"_Finite Incantatum_," he said. 

At last, Ginny looked at him and spoke, normally, with only a slight tremor in her voice. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't want to, I knew something was wrong, I couldn't help it. He was telling me to and I..." She stopped, as if something had struck her. "What did you do? With the gold stuff? You didn't have a wand, I'm sure of it." She gave him a look. "Did you use a Dark Spell?"

He scowled. "It doesn't matter. We're out of there aren't we?"

She grinned. "I know we are. And thanks."

He brushed off her thank-you. Frankly, thank-yous had always unnerved him a bit. What exactly does one say, after that, he'd always wondered. Most people would have settle with a "you're welcome", but he wasn't most people, he was Draco Malfoy. "Whatever. Look, you do realize that we have to go to Dumbledore now, don't you?"

"He's still around?" she asked, surprise evident in her voice.

"You surprised?" he asked. "That old man's been around forever."

"Yes, but, well, I thought by now..." She changed topics and asked, "Is he still at Hogwarts? Or has he finally taken up retirement?"

"He's at Hogwarts."

"So we don't have to go to the Ministry?"

Draco gave her a look. "Of course we have to go," he snapped, growing impatient. "I have to report to my superior-he'll be wondering what's happened to me. And Dumbledore will have to talk to Fudge, that old coot.

"I... I can't," she whispered. "Go there, I mean. What if one of my brothers is there? Or my father? Or more than one of my brothers? I have a lot of them, you know."

Draco couldn't resist a chuckle. "I know." The moment passed, and the weight on his shoulders pressed heavily on him again. He never again would envy Potter for all the fame and glory again. It simply took too much from him. "We have to, though."

"I know." Ginny bit her lip, eliciting a droplet of blood. "Bloody hell, do I know."

"I can go alone, if you want," he told her. "I don't mind. But you have to decide now, because at any moment, they could be coming after us. Time isn't exactly something we have on our side at the moment."

"I'm coming," she announced. She had a stubborn gleam in her eye. "It was my wand, I did the spell. I'm coming."

"It's not your fault," he told her. "It really isn't."

"I don't care." Ginny looked him straight in the eye. "I'm coming, and you can't stop me."

Draco smiled. "Wouldn't think of it."

***

A/N: There, it's done. I know it took forever, but I've been busy... and lazy. Either one works. Anyway, I'm sorry 'bout the delay. I finally got round to finishing it. I slapped on the Michelle Branch CD (It's a great CD, everyone get it now!) and got writing. Shorter too, but I got tired of it being unfinished. Okies, haven't done thanks in a long time, so I present the grand list of reviewers, complete and unchanged:

**The Great Ones: Tiny Q, (Thanks! And thanks for asking to archive my fic too, I feel very honored! ::g::) lovesnapefanfic, elisasbeth, ****Sayuko the Bishie lover, wmlaw, (Have I mentioned how thrilling it is to have you review? Seriously! I'm a huge fan!) Jewel Giovanni, Kitty ( :) You give the weirdest reviews, have I told you that? But, awww, whatever. See ya at school!) Satans Little Princess, (Great name!) Phoebe1912, (Thanks, and sorry for the lack of D/G action. ::g::) TristaSetsuna, Amen, Davesmom, (Wow, you reviewed! Exciting! I really love your fics too!) Ayaka Quirrell, ginny5, Katie, Carol, Ophelia, MicheleLupin, Eiez, Cho Chang, anastacy, GinnyMalfoy, FeatherQuill, serendipidy, pyrobunnie, Elizabeth, Niki, cammie, Angel Starr, (Sorry, I never got around to emailing you. If you're still reading, review or something and let me know and I'll tell you when the next chapters come out! Sorry!) Draco Crazed Teenage Girl, Nemain The Raven, Grace, FoxyChic4u, princess of mordor, ~Danielle~, Apocalypse, Butterflygurl, natzhpfanatic, Alex, jane Bob, anchud and my very first reviewer of all: A persona**

Thank you, thank you! Reviews are very good, very good! So please do. Review, that is. Any questions, complains, constructive criticism are welcome, you can always drop me a line @ my email: pocoloco14@hotmail.com.


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